Final TV role of Van Johnson who had twice before guested on ''Murder, She Wrote'', in Hit, Run and Homicide (1984) and Menace, Anyone? (1986).
Van Johnson actually had to get in the casket for the funeral home scenes. He said "That damn thing was so SMALL" Angela Lansbury turned around and retorted "Don't worry, next time you won't feel anything"
A portion of Jessica's dialogue can be heard in the Designing Women (1986) episode Friends and Husbands (1991), when Charlene and Bill are discussing whether Angela Lansbury is sexy.
Dan Hannigan's book "The Vietnam Indictment" was modeled on "The Things They Carried" a novel by Washington Post Reporter Tim O'Brien, published in 1990.